…or at least the first hour of February 14.

On the night of Friday, February 12, I started having abdominal pains. Not cramps, mind you, but sharp, shooting pains that kept me up through the night.

I decided to suck it up and went into work the next day because Saturdays are the busiest days at the store.

The pains persisted throughout the day and I was still experiencing them when I went home to finally see my husband after a grueling week at my parents’. It continued through dinner and by this time I was a nervous wreck.

It was 9pm on a Saturday night — the night before Valentine’s Day and during a holiday weekend (Presidents’ Day would be on Monday) — would any doctor’s office even be open?

So we decided to stop by the ER.

I checked myself in and we patiently waited. Luckily, the ER was practically empty that night — only 2 patients were ahead of us — and we only had to wait 15 minutes, tops.

Soon, the staff directed us to a private “booth” (which was as large as a private hospital room) and I changed into a hospital gown. After taking about a bazillion tubes of blood, they hooked me to an IV and I soon found myself lying on the bed. J remained by my side on a hard plastic chair.

I was not doubled over in pain, nor was I screaming in agony. Why did we go to the ER for stomach pains?

Because I was pregnant.

Correction: I am pregnant. Yes, what many of you conjectured is correct. And I am making the official announcement, on my blog, NOW.

Our visit to the ER lasted five hours, most of which were spent waiting. Waiting for blood results and waiting for the ultrasound tech to come in (she had left for the night and so they had to call her in for me).

We had our own private TV so the wait wasn’t that bad. We watched Dangerous Liaisons (note: Cruel Intentions is better) and watched reruns of Dirty Jobs. Both of us even fell asleep at certain points.

When the ultrasound tech finally arrived, we were wheeled to a room with humongous equipment (that’s what she said). Within a few minutes, the tech confirmed the pregnancy and said that the baby didn’t seem to be in any danger!

She turned the screen around so that both of us could see our baby for the first time (we hadn’t had our first OB appointment yet) and there it was. A little bean-looking thing with a flickering heartbeat. She even amplified the sound of the baby’s heartbeat for us and the fast but steady thu-thump thu-thump echoed throughout the room.

It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.

She proceeded to take loads of measurements — the length of the baby, the length of its head, the length of my ovaries, the space between my vagina and anus (okay, maybe not that one), and who knows what else. She concluded the 10-minute examination by announcing that everything looked perfect.

I was then wheeled back to my “booth” and an hour later, the doctor came in to tell us that both the blood tests and the ultrasound showed no problems with the pregnancy. He advised me to take some Tylenol for the pain, but could really find no reason for the pain itself. I was to continue taking my prenatal vitamins and go see my regular OB if the pain persisted.

So yes, we spent the first hour of Valentine’s Day at the ER. It was not the most ideal way to spend our first night together in a week, and I was scared sh*tless for the majority of the visit.

However, we saw our baby for the first time and learned that everything was progressing smoothly. In a week’s time we would have our first OB visit and see the thriving baby once again.

You can read more about it at http://baby.geekinheels.com

The pains eventually went away after a few days. And I am back to my normal life, cautiously but excitedly awaiting my baby.